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TTbese passing tributes are bere gatbere5 in affectionate 
remembrance of m? busbant), anb in lo?al recognition of more 
tban tbree«score ^ears of close companionsbip witb tbe bigb 
resolve anC* steadfast devotion to tbe acbievement wbicb 
crowneC* bis life«worl?. 

posterity is bis beir, an& bis most ensuring memorial tbe 
far=reacbing influence of tbe Tllniversits be bas foun5e&. 

Susan Mrigbt Glarl?. 

IKIorccstcr, iDaseacbusctte, 

November Ut, 1000. 



JSiograpbical 



<X<^"^^ (Bilman Clarft was born at Hubbardston, Mass., on 
^ the first of February, 1815, and died in the city of 
Worcester on the 23d day of May, 1900. His early life was 
devoted to the acquisition of a fortune, and his later to the 
wise and intelligent study of the needs of his country along the 
lines of higher scientific education. The result was the found- 
ing and endowing, while he was yet living, of the institution 
at Worcester which bears his name, Clark University. This 
put him in the rank of those noble public benefactors whose 
munificence coming generations will enjoy, and from which 
great advantages will accrue to the individual, and inestimable 
blessings to the country and the world. 

Mr. Clark was, in the best sense of the word, a man of the 
people. He descended through a long line of ancestors, intelli- 
gent and worthy, who had developed high ideas of the duty of 
citizenship in a republic like ours, and notions of the respon- 
sibilities of wealth which result in the large philanthropies so 
characteristic of the section of the country in which he was 
born and reared. 

Mr. Clark could well be said to be a native product of our 
soil and truly be called an American of Americans. He was 
in the eighth generation of his family in this country, being a 



lineal descendant of Hugh and Elizabeth Clark, who were among 
the first settlers at Watertown, Mass. 

Hugh Clark, who is set down in the early annals as a 
"husbandman," crossed the Atlantic with his good wife from 
England, the land of their birth, and threw in his lot with that 
little band of pure-minded and stout-hearted men and womeh 
who sought in the new world that liberty of conscience and 
freedom of worship denied them by the state and church polity 
of the mother country. From Watertown he migrated to Rox- 
bury, where, in 1660, he was made a freeman, and in 1666 
became a member of the Artillery Company. He died there in 
1693, being then about 80 years of age. 

His son John, born in Watertown in 1641, received from 
his father a property embracing some sixty-seven acres of land 
in Newton, Mass., upon which he erected a saw-mill, the first 
built upon the banks of the Charles River. He died in 1695. 
His son, Isaac Clark, was a land owner in Framingham and 
Hopkinton, Mass. John Clark, son of Isaac, born in 1730, 
settled at Hubbardston, Mass., about the year he became of 
age, and attained a leading position in that community by hold- 
ing the rank of captain in the militia and being chosen at various 
times to fill nearly every civil office in the gift of the town. 

Warmly espousing the cause of the Colonists against the 
mother country, he was chosen a delegate to the first Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts, in 1774, and during the Revolution 
furnished supplies to the Continental Army. In the local his- 
tories he is frequently mentioned in connection with public 
events, and is always referred to as a man of probity and virtue 



and an orthodox and practical Christian. His son, William Clark 
of Hubbardston, a farmer of some property, high social standing 
and excellent character, was a member of Capt. William Marean's 
company that marched to Lexington in April, 1775, and later 
he was a member of Captain Wheeler's company in Colonel 
Doolittle's regiment. He was the father of William Smith Clark, 
born January 22d, 1784. The latter married Elizabeth, daughter 
of Lieut. Samuel Clark of Hubbardston, Mass., on May 22d, 1803, 
and was the father of Jonas Oilman Clark, the subject of this 
biographical notice. 

The son of a farmer of independent means and blessed with 
a mother who came of a good family, and was more than com- 
monly endowed with the virtues of her sex, he began life under 
auspicious conditions. From his earliest years he was noted for 
his thoroughness and progressive views, and for a certain self- 
reliance which was shown by his refusal to make any draft upon 
the small estate left to him by his mother, beyond the price 
of a Dore Bible, which remained to the day of his death a 
valued keepsake. As a school boy he made good use of his 
opportunities, and by the time he was ready to engage in bread- 
winning he was the possessor of a good English education, had 
a keen appreciation of the value of knowledge and was dis- 
posed to enlighten himself still further by employing his leisure 
to that end rather than to waste it in selfish indulgence. 
Selecting the trade of carriage building as a vocation, he 
mastered it thoroughly and then opened a shop of his own. 
Later he engaged in the manufacture and sale of general hard- 
ware, as the phrase was then understood, to which he added 



household furniture, for the successful conduct of which he first 
erected suitable buildings, and later established depots or stores 
for the sale of his products at Lowell and Milford in Massa- 
chusetts. 

During the fateful years of the anti-slavery movement in 
New England previous to 1853, 'i'""^ while he was yet a resident 
of Massachusetts, Mr. Clark was an early and earnest sympa- 
thizer with the cause and its leaders, many of the latter being 
his familiar friends and frequent guests at his home. 

While absolutely devoid of political ambition, he was a con- 
sistent patriot all the days of his life, and his abiding faith in 
the republic was energetically attested both in California, dur- 
ing the critical period at the outbreak of the Civil War, and 
later by the hazard of his fortune on the credit and stability 
of the National Government' throughout the long years of finan- 
cial gloom and uncertainty which followed. 

Progressive and enterprising beyond most men, he made 
rapid strides in. the accumulation of a fortune, and was generally 
regarded and always spoken of as one who had the happy faculty 
of transmuting everything he touched into gold. Upon the 
discovery of this precious metal in California, he was quick to per- 
ceive the possibilities of trade on the Pacific slope, and, relinquish- 
ing his Eastern business, embarked in a general supply business, 
or the "California trade," as it was then called, and with his 
partner in this venture, Mr. George B. Wilbur of Hubbardston, 
who accompanied him to California in the early "fifties," he laid 
the foundation of his fortune through dealing in miners' supplies. 

Upon returning to the Atlantic coast he engaged in business 



in New York City, and during the Civil War and reconstruction 
period made large transactions in government securities, with the 
result of greatly augmenting his fortune. Later, he invested 
heavily in real estate in Boston and New York, netting large 
profit from its judicious purchase and sale. In 1875 he disposed 
of his residence on Fifth Avenue, New York, but, desiring to 
maintain a home in the metropolis, he soon after purchased 
another site on Seventy-second Street, near the Lenox Library, 
which, upon his removal from the city, he sold for half a million. 

The contiguity of Worcester, Mass., to his birthplace and 
social ties formed in early life, and its central location, as the 
"Heart of the Commonwealth," led Mr. Clark to select it as the 
place of his permanent residence, and in 1881 he built on Elm 
Street a large and costly mansion of granite which he and his 
wife occupied as their home in Worcester, although of recent years 
it was Mr. Clark's custom to spend the winter season in New 
York City. He made considerable purchases of real estate in 
Worcester, and built there one of the largest and hand- 
somest blocks on Main Street, the central and leading business 
thoroughfare, and also another fine block on Front Street. A 
true bibliophile, Mr. Clark gratifietl his tastes in this direction 
almost without limit. His private library is unusually large and 
valuable, and, besides being rich in its several departments, con- 
tains what is probably the finest collection in Massachusetts, 
outside of a public institution, of early manuscripts and choice 
old first editions. 

But while indulging his own scholarly tastes, Mr. Clark was 
always keenly conscious of the responsibilities of wealth. Years 



ago when his fortune had already assumed large proportions, he 
began to give grave thoughts to this question of stewardship. 
The pure philanthropy of his nature demanded expression so 
soon as it became possible, and found it in the gift to his native 
town of Hubbardston, Mass., of a handsome public building 
for a library, which also includes a post-office and rooms for 
the town offices, substantially constructed of brick and granite, 
comparing favorably with any town edifice for similar pur- 
poses in the country. To render this generous gift immediately 
effective, he filled the shelves of the library with a well-chosen 
collection of books, numbering in excess of two thousand volumes. 
The thanks of the officials of the town and the appreciation of 
its inhabitants were an ample reward ; but beyond these was the 
consciousness of a self-imposed duty well performed and the 
realization of the usefulness of the means employed in stimu- 
lating interest and ripening faculties which for want of the 
opportunity presented might possibly never be aroused or de- 
veloped. 

But like that other great friend of humanity, Ezra Cornell, 
the large-hearted and noble-minded founder of Cornell Uni- 
versity, who similarly began his philanthropies by founding a 
beautiful and useful public library, Mr. Clark found this only a 
beginning of his public usefulness. Like Cornell, he sought for 
a larger and wider field in which he might use a substantial 
part of his great and growing fortune to the lasting advantage 
of his country and possibly of the whole world. 

His experience as a business man made him intensely practical 
and may be said to have colored his views, for it appears that 



one of the first things borne in upon his mind when he began 
to study the field was the thoroughness of the scientific training 
given abroad, notably in the universities of Germany. It became 
evident to him that this kind of training was of high value not 
only to the individuals to whom it was given and to the country 
in which it was practised, but also to the world at large. To 
see for himself was the next step, and being a somewhat self- 
contained man, he said nothing concerning the projects already 
ripening in his brain, but arranging his affairs so as to allow 
long intervals for travel and observation, he gave the leisure of 
eight years to visiting the leading foreign institutions of learn- 
ing, old and new, and to gathering and reading their records. 
"These studies centred about the means by which the highest 
culture of one generation is best transmitted to the ablest youths 
of the next, and especially about the external conditions most 
favorable for increasing the sum of human knowledge." The 
culmination of these observations and studies was a resolve to 
found a university in America to be devoted "to the improve- 
ment of these means and the enlargement of these conditions," 
a resolve than which it would be almost impossible to conceive 
one higher or nobler. 

Mr. Clark began operations early in 1887 by the purchase of 
a site for the proposed university in Worcester, Mass., that city 
being chosen by the founder after mature deliberation : " First, 
because its location is central among the best colleges of the 
East, and by supplementing rather than duplicating their work, 
he hopes to advance all their interests and secure their good 
will and active support ; that, together, further steps may be 



taken in the development of superior education in New Eng- 
land; and, secondly, because he believes the culture of the city 
will insure that enlightened public opinion indispensable in main- 
taining these educational standards at their highest, and that 
its wealth will insure the perpetual increase of revenue required 
by the rapid progress of science." As the first positive step 
toward the realization of his plans, Mr. Clark invited eight lead- 
ing citizens of Worcester to constitute with himself a Board of 
Trustees. 

Following is a list of their names : Stephen Salisbury, presi- 
dent of the American Antiquarian Society; Hon. Charles Devens, 
ex-attorney-general of the United States and a Justice of the 
supreme court of Massachusetts; Hon. George F. Hoar, LL.D., 
United States Senator; William W. Rice, LL.D., a member of 
Congress; Dr. Joseph Sargent, a physician of eminence; Hon. 
John D. Washburn, former U. S. Minister to Switzerland ; Frank 
P. Goulding, a member of the Worcester county bar, and George 
Swan, also a member of the bar and of the Worcester school 
board. A charter granting full university privileges and con- 
firming the name selected, Clark University, "in recognition of 
the munificence of the originator and founder, as shown b}- the 
endowment of one million dollars and probably more should the 
community exhibit substantial evidence of its sympathy, encour- 
agement and support," was obtained on petition from the Massa- 
chusetts legislature in 1887; and on October 2 2d of that year 
the corner-stone of the institutionwas laid by Mr. and Mrs. Clark 
in the presence of a large concourse of people. In his address 
on the occasion, Mr. Clark said: 



"We have assembled at this time to participate in the observ- 
ance of a most pleasing and agreeable rite, the laying of the 
corner-stone of the first buildino- to be erected for the use of a 
new university ; and although we may all fail to realize the fact 
that a university as such, fully organized and equipped in every 
respect for doing the work of such an institution, cannot be called 
into existence at once by the fiat of any human agency, but that it 
must be the result of gradual growth extending over a period of 
many years, we are taking the initial steps in the foundation of an 
institution which we believe, without a doubt or a fear, will in the 
time to come realize our most sanguine hopes. 

" Broad in its scope, liberal in its methods, and comprehensive 
in its teachings, it must of necessity prove a powerful instrument 
in promoting the higher education and fuller development of the 
intellectual faculties of our people. Being placed, as we propose 
it shall be, in charge of the wisest and most accomplished scholars 
of the day in several departments of science, literature, and art, 
those seeking to avail themselves of its advantages will be brought 
in close relations with the best thought and most profound wisdom 
of the world and a^e. We are sflad to be able to contribute to the 
foundation of such an institution, the work and mission of which 
will be the culture and elevation of a great and rapidly growing 
people. We shall watch its progress with the deepest interest 
and the most solicitous regard. We therefore, here and now, 
dedicate this university to science, letters, art, and human progress, 
in their best and most valuable forms, and may the Giver of all 
good crown its efforts and the labors with His constant and 
abundant blessing." 



Within two years after the charter had been obtained, a- 
"plain, substantial, and well-appointed central building, 204 by 
114 feet, four stories high, and with superior facilities for heating, 
lighting, and ventilation," was completed. It was built of brick 
and granite, and finished throughout in oak. A laboratory build- 



ing, containing about 50 rooms, and designed after consulting 
noted experts and the plans of the most approved European 
structures, was subsequently completed. The foundations of a 
still larger department building were also laid, to provide for 
future expansion. In the spring of 1888, G. Stanley Hall, Ph.D., 
then a professor in Johns Hopkins University, was invited to 
the presidency of Clark University. Although in an institution, 
to quote his own words, "which, in less than fifteen years of 
its existence, has done a work in stimulating other institutions 
and in advancing the highest standard, which was bejond com- 
parison in the recent history of higher education in this country," 
he saw the opportunity at Clark "to be so great for a further 
and at least no less epoch-making step," that he accepted the 
invitation. 

As a preparation for the new work he was sent to Europe 
and spent a year there in studying educational institutions and 
methods, visiting every country except Portugal and seeking in- 
formation from every source. Equipped by the knowledge thus 
gleaned he hastened home and on October 2d, 1889, the buildings 
being nearly ready for occupancy, the university was formally 
opened. Several thousand persons attended, among them being 
a number of notabilities, including leading ofiicials, well-known 
scientists and many members of the professions. Gen. Charles 
Devens presided and made the opening speech, in the course 
of which, after paying high compliments to President Hall, he 
said: — "The moment of commencing a great enterprise, if one of 
hope, is one of anxiety also. Of those to whom much is given 
much is rightfully required. We have received from the founder 



of the university a most generous gift, the good effect uf which, if 
wisely used, will be felt long after the grass grows green above 
each one of us. It has been supplemented by those provisions 
made by himself and his estimable and honored wife, which by 
means of fellowships open wide the gates of the university to those 
of narrow means. In all that has been done it has been the wish 
of the trustees to keep themselves in communication with the 
best thought, the noblest feeling, the highest aspirations of the 
age in which we live." 

The next address was by Mr. Clark, who referred to the in- 
ception of the plan and purposes of the institution in the fol- 
lowing words : 

"When we first entered upon our work it was with a well- 
defined plan and purpose, in which plan and purpose we have 
steadily persevered, turning neither to the right nor to the left. 
We have wrought upon no vague conceptions nor suffered our- 
selves to be borne upon the fluctuating and unstable current of 
public opinion or public suggestions. We started upon our career 
with the determinate view of giving to the public all the benefits 
and advantages of a universitj-, comprehending full well what 
that implies, and feeling the full force of the general understand- 
ing that a university must, to a large degree, be a creation of time 
and experience. We have, however, boldly assumed as the foun- 
dation of our institution the principles, the tests, and the respon- 
sibilities of universities as they are everywhere recognized, but 
without making any claim for the prestige or favor which age 
imparts to all things. 

" It has, therefore, been our purpose to lay our foundation 
broad, and strong, and deep. In this we must necessarily lack the 
simple element of years. W^e have what we believe to be more 
valuable, the vast storehouse of the knowledore and learning which 
have been accumulating for the centuries that have gone before 



us, availing ourselves of the privileges of drawing from this source, 
open to all alike. We propose to go to further and higher 
achievements. We propose to put into the hands of those who 
are members of the university, engaged in its several departments, 
every facility which money can command, to the extent of our 
ability, in the way of apparatus and appliances that can in any 
way promote our object in this direction. To our present depart- 
ments we propose to add others from time to time, as our means 
shall warrant and the exigencies of the university shall seem to 
demand, always taking those first whose domain lies nearest to 
those already established, until the full scope and purpose of the 
university shall have been accomplished. 

" These benefits and advantages thus briefly outlined, we pro- 
pose placing at the service of those who from time to time seek 
in good faith and honesty of purpose to pursue the study of 
science in its purity and to engage in scientific research and in- 
vestigation — to such they are offered as far as possible, free from 
all trammels and hindrances, without any religious, political, or 
social tests. All that will be required of any applicant will be 
evidence, disclosed by examinations or otherwise, that his attain- 
ments are such as to qualify him for the position which he seeks." 

The formal address of the day was then delivered by Presi- 
dent Hall, who was followed by Senator George F. Hoar, the 
Rev. Edward Everett Hale, and Hon. John D. Washburn. The 
first named gave a scholarly presentation of the need of higher 
education in pure science, prefixing his discourse by an historical 
reference to the university and its founder which may properly 
be quoted here as an authentic statement of facts. On this point 
President Hall said: 

"Our history begins more than twenty years ago in the plans 
of a reticent and sagacious man, whose leave we cannot here await 
to speak of, who in affluence maintains the simple and regular 



mode of life inbred in the plain New England home of his boy- 
hood ; plans that have steadily grown with his fortune and that have 
been followed and encouraged with an eager and growing interest, 
which extended to even minor items, by the devoted companion of 
his life. Besides a large fund already placed to our account, he 
has given his experience and unremitting daily care, worth to us 
large sums in economies and resulting in well-appointed buildings 
and a solidity of materials and a thoroughness of workmanship 
which, I believe, are without a parallel of their cost and kind in 
the country. 

"Not only in the multifarious work of the university office, its 
methods of estimates, orders, bookkeeping, of individual account- 
ability for all books, apparatus, supplies, and furniture, but in the 
larger questions of university polity without, and effective admin- 
istration within, in the definition of duty for each ofiFicer, the strict 
subordination and the concentration of authorit)- and responsibility 
sure to appeal to all who have the instinct of discipline, and which 
are exceptionally needful where the life of science is to be so free 
and the policy so independent; in the express exemption, too, of 
all instructors who can sustain the ardor of research from excessive 
teaching and examination, in the appointment of assistants in a 
way to keep each member of the staff at his best work, and to 
avoid the too common and wasteful practice in American uni- 
versities of letting four-thousand dollar men do four-hundred dollar 
work; in the ample equipment of each department that no force be 
lost on inferior tools ; in all these and in many other respects the 
ideal of our founder has been to make everywhere an independent 
application of the simplest and severest, but also the largest prin- 
ciples of business economy. 

"As business absorbs more and more of the talent and energy 
of the world, its consideration more and more pervading if not 
subordinating, whether for better or worse, not only the arts, the 
school, the press, but all departments of church and state, making 
peace and war, cities or deserts, so science is slowly pervading 
and profoundly modifying literature, philosophy, education, re- 
ligion, and every domain of culture. Both at their best have 



dangers and are severe schools of integrity. The directness, 
simplicity, certainty, and absorption in work so characteristic of 
both are setting new fashions in manners and even in morals, 
and bringing man into closer contact with the world as it is. 
Both are binding the universe together into new unities and 
imposing a discipline ever severer for body and mind. When 
their work, purified of deceit and error, is finished the period 
of history we now call modern will be rounded to complete- 
ness; culture will have abandoned much useless luggage; the 
chasm between instruction and education will be less disastrous, 
and all the highest and most sacred of human ideals will not 
be lost or dimmed, but will become nearer and more real. 

"When one who has graduated with highest honors from this 
vigorous school of business, after spending eight years of travel 
abroad studying the means by which knowledge and culture, the 
most precious riches of the race, are increased and transmitted, 
and finding no reason why our country, which so excels in busi- 
ness, should be content with the second best in science, devotes 
to its services not onl)' his fortune at the end of his life, but 
years yet full of exceptional and unabated energy, we see in 
such a fact not only the normal, complete, if you please, post- 
graduate ethical maturity- of an individual business life, but also 
a type and promise of what wealth now seems likeh' to do for 
higher education in America. It is no marvel that our founda- 
tion has already been so often, so conspicuously and so favorably 
noted in authoritative ways and places in an European land 
where, if monarchy should yield to a republic, university culture 
could not penetrate its people as it now does. It is thus a more t)p- 
ical and vital product of the national life at its best than are foun- 
dations made by state or church in which to train their servants. 

"In thus giving his fortune to a single highest end as sagacious- 
ly and actively as he has acquired it, may our founder find a new 
completeness of life in age, which Cicero did not know, and taste 

'all the joy that lies 



In a full self-sacrifice.' 



As a synopsis of his well-spent life, his generosity and noble 
devotion to the cause of the higher knowledge and of human 
progress, this presentation by Dr. Hall is so admirable that it 
leaves but little further to be said. " When the purpose of Mr. 
Clark was first announced," said Senator Hoar, speaking on the 
occasion referred to above, "there were many people who thought 
it would have been better to enlarge the resources of some exist- 
ing college. But as his plans have gradually unfolded, such 
critics have become satisfied, not only that this university can do its 
work without jar or friction with any other, but that the time has 
come when a work should be done in this country which it may 
not be wholly convenient for any other just now to undertake." 

In the decade that has passed since these words were spoken 
not only has criticism upon Mr. Clark's act been absolutely 
silenced, but recognition of it has become general. "The Register 
and Tenth Official Announcement" of the university shows a 
group of five closely related departments in admirable working 
order — namely. Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and 
Psychology, to the last named of which a sub-department on 
Pedagogy has recently been added. There is, in addition, a library 
containing about 17,000 bound volumes and 1500 pamphlets, and 
receiving for its reading-room about 200 journals. 

The decennial celebration of the University which closed July 
loth, 1899, was made memorable by the presence of distinguished 
saz'(7//s from the leading universities of Europe as well as America, 
and was the occasion of heartiest congratulation from man)' and 
eminent sources, a summary of which found expression in the 
address of Dr. G. Stanley Hall, a brief abstract of which follows: 



" No time in the history of the country could have been more 
favorable than the beginning of this period for a great and new 
university foundation. The epoch-making work of the Johns 
Hopkins University, for the preceding decade, had made Balti- 
more the brightest spot on the educational map of the country. 
The significance of the work of that institution can hardly be 
overestimated. But financial clouds had already begun to threaten 
this great Southern luminary, and there were indications that if 
the great work it had begun was to be carried on, parts of it 
at least must be transplanted to new fields. It was at this crisis 
that our munificent founder entered the field with the largest 
single gift ever made to education in New England, and one 
of the largest in the world, with the offer of more to come if 
sufiicient co-operation was forthcoming. 

"He selected Worcester as the site of his great enterprise 
with a loyalty to the region of his nativity worthy of the greatest 
respect and emulation, and in addition to the fulfilment of his 
pledges gave it the benefit of his own previous wide studies of 
education in Europe, and contributed wisely matured plans and 
constant personal oversight and labor for years. It is as strenu- 
ously engaged in this highest of all human endeavors that the 
world knows him, and that we shall remember him, and I am 
sure that we all unite to-day, first of all, in sending him in the 
retirement his ill-health demands (although it cannot assuage his 
interest to see the work of his hands prosper) our most cordial 
greetings and our most hearty congratulations." 

Mr. Clark married, October 6th, 1836, Miss Susan Wright, of 
Hubbardston, Mass. This noble woman has earnestly supple- 
mented her husband's work by founding scholarships and fellow- 
ships, to be known as the Mrs. Jonas G. Clark fellowships and 
scholarships, respectively, and in accord with her spirit, Mr. 
Clark himself likewise founded a number of scholarships dur- 
ing his life. 



©bituav^. 



•^T^bC XHdt IRitCS. — Simplicity and dignity, which so well 
^^ accorded with the life and character of the late Jonas 
Oilman Clark, characterized the last honors to the dead, the 
public benefactor whose life-work has crowned Worcester and 
extended her fame the world over. 

A distinguished and representative gathering of citizens from 
the city he had blest by his benefactions, and from other places 
where he had won love and respect by his life of industry, 
integrity, and benevolence, assembled on the afternoon of May 
26th, to pay the last public tribute of affection and esteem at 
the funeral services held at his home, 39 Elm Street, Worces- 
ter, Mass. 

In compliance with Mr. Clark's expressed wish, the services 
were very simple and without ostentation of any sort. 

There was the gathering of friends and business associates, 
prominent citizens of Worcester and other cities, professors, 
instructors, and students at Clark University, and the customary 
services of the church. 

The services were conducted by Rev. Calvin Stebbins, former 
pastor of the Church of the Unity, of which Mr. Clark was a 
member, assisted by Rev. Frank L. Phalen, the present pastor. 

The casket rested in the large central reception-room, near 



the main staircase, at the foot of which the two clergymen stood 
and uttered their words of comfort and consolation. 

The Scripture reading was by Rev. Mr. Phalen. Rev. Mr. 
Stebbins offered prayer, and then gave an appreciative address 
on Mr. Clark's life, character, and achievements. 

At the committal service at the grave Rev. Mr. Stebbins 
offered a short prayer. The burial was in Rural Cemetery. 

The honorary bearers were: Dr. G. Stanley Hall, president 
of Clark University; Senator George F. Hoar, Stephen Salisbury, 
Dr. Thomas H. Gage, Dr. William E. Strong, of Clark Univer- 
sity, William E. Rice, Dr. Thomas C. Mendenhall, president of 
Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Mayor Rufus B. Dodge, Jr., 
Lincoln N. Kinnicutt, and James P. Hamilton. 



!': -J 



Hbbrees* 



abt»re08 of tbe IRcv. Calvin Stebbins, 

a former minister of tbe Cburcb of tbe "Clnits, lUorcceter, /Rase. 



Nothing appears so transitory and fleeting as the life of man 
when compared with the apparent permanence of his surround- 
ings. Indeed his most enduring works, which long survive the 
builder, are a matter of yesterday when compared with a geo- 
logical epoch. 

The brevity of human life has been the theme of sermon and 
song for ages. The Hebrew preacher tells us very mournfully 
that "the generations of men come and go, but the earth abideth 
forever," and a modern poet makes the brook sing in triumph 
as it hurries on to the ocean : 

" Men may come, and men may go, 
But I flow on forever." 

But thinofs are not as thev seem. There is a sense in which 
man has something like an earthly immortality. The generations 
come and go, but they do not take all of themselves with them 
in their going. They leave something behind them for weal or 
woe to those who come after them. The possibilities of life in 
this Western world are great, and ever and anon comes a man 



of power who illustrates this principle, leaves a benediction to 
the world and makes an impression upon intellectual and moral 
life, which goes ringing down through the shifting scenes of time 
and the coming and going generations of men. 

A diffident and reticent boy in one of our country towns 
beo-ins life as a hard worker at a hard trade. He becomes in- 
terested in his work and his experience widens his thought. 
His judgment leads him into new branches of business and 
into wider fields of action. He becomes, in time, a thoroughly 
equipped man of business who does not shrink from great trans- 
actions and who understands the influences that affect the rise 
and fall of real property in the market. 

By honorable and straightforward means and sound judg- 
ment he acquires what men call a fortune. It is a great thing 
to have acquired a fortune. It is the measure of so much toil 
and frugality and self-sacrifice. But over and beyond this there 
has been growing a sense of the moral responsibility of wealth. 
Along with years of patient labor there have been years of 
patient thought and study. A great ideal had been growing and 
at last an attempt was made to make it a reality. It is not time 
yet, and this is not the place to speak of the realization of his 
long-cherished hope. 

The influence of a great institution of learning cannot be 
estimated any more than you can measure the effect of the sun- 
light on the trees or field, or weigh the sweet influence of the 
stars on the mind of a thoughtful beholder. Its influence, like the 
influence of the great law of gravitation, is silent, but unlike that 
law it cannot be estimated because it works in the world of minds. 



An institution founded on the principles thus far pursued 
at Clark University comes to the realization of its power and 
influence, as the Kingdom of God comes to earth, "without 
any show that it should be watched for." But if the first decade 
of its existence can be taken as an indication of what is to be 
in the future, Founder's Day at the end of a century will be a 
day commemorated not only within academic walls, but where- 
ever a silent worker is endeavorino- to read in the ereat manu- 
script of God, which we call nature, and in that more wonderful 
book of human nature. 

Mr. Clark's generosity was along great lines. With him fru- 
gality was the mother of munificence, and he held himself, what- 
ever may have been his private feelings, steadily to one purpose, 
and that purpose was a great one fraught with incalculable bene- 
fits. He was a man who had high ideas of moral relations in 
business and in life. He was very reticent, seldom took others 
into his confidence, and seldom went into co-operation with other 
men. He seems to have felt himself strong enough to accom- 
plish any and all of his purposes. He had at all times and every- 
where the manners and habits of a gentleman ; indeed, his man- 
ners were illustrations of his character. He loved to do business 
and he loved to do it on a large scale, but he did not forget 
the culture of mind and heart, so often forgotten by business men. 

He was a lover of books, and had remarkable judgment in 
their selection and an exquisite taste for fine bindings. In his 
handling of books one could see that he felt that, as Milton has 
said, "a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit 
embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." 



He was an industrious and intelligent reader and easily put him- 
self in accord with the great authors. 

There are things as well as persons that hold us in life be- 
cause we love them, and parting with them is hard. Among 
the very last things Mr. Clark spoke of were his books. It was 
characteristic, his last thoughts were with the immortals. 

He brought to everything that interested him the enthusiasm 
of a boy as well as the wisdom of a man of affairs. At the 
breaking out of the rebellion, California was a very doubtful 
State. He felt the importance of the great principles involved 
in the issue and gave liberally of his money and devoted all his 
great powers as an organizer to the cause of the Union, which 
he felt was sacred. 

Mr. Clark has left a splendid record as a business man and 
a citizen. It is an unsullied record of honesty and personal in- 
tegrity — of great powers guided by sound judgment, of gener- 
osity inspired by the noble purpose of advancing learning for the 
amelioration of man's estate. 

The religious tone and temper of the household is well ex- 
pressed in a favorite hymn : 

" Behold the western evening light ! 
It melts in deepening gloom: 
So calm the righteous sink away, 
Descending to the tomb. 

" The winds breathe low; the yellow leaf 
Scarce whispers from the tree ; 
So gently Hows the parting breath. 
When good men cease to be. 



" How beautiful, on all the hills, 
The crimson light is shed ! 
'Tis like the peace the dying gives 
To mourners round his bed. 

" How mildly, on the wandering cloud, 
The sunset beam is cast! 
So sweet the memory left behind, 
When loved ones breathe their last. 

" And lo ! above the dews of night 
The vesper star appears ; 
So faith lights up the mourner's heart 
Whose eyes are dim with tears. 

" Night falls; but soon the morning light 
Its glories shall restore: 
And thus the eyes that sleep in death 
Shall wake to close no more." 



IResolutions. 



^be faculty of dlavU lllniversit^. 



At a meeting of the Faculty of Clark University, May 24th, 
the following action was taken : 

We desire to record our deep sorrow at the death of the 
founder of the University. His philanthropy, expressed by a 
gift then larger than any other in the history of education, es- 
tablished here an institution which has so far been unique as 
devoted solely to graduate work. He has not only taken a deep 
personal interest in the scientific work of the University in 
general and in each instructor, but given unremitting personal 
attention to nearly every detail of the library for which he made 
special and most liberal provision, and to the grounds and also 
to the buildings of which he planned and personally directed 
the construction. 

It was also voted : 

That the special sympathy of the Faculty be extended 
to Mrs. Clark, to whom the secretary was instructed to 
forward a copy of this action. 

It was voted : 

That all regular exercises of the University be sus- 
pended and the flag kept at half mast till after the 
funeral, and that the building be suitabl)- draped. 

WILLIA^r E. Storv, 

Secretary of the Faculty. 



Communication to tbe Jfacult^. 



Worcester, Mass., May 24th, 1900. 

To the Faculty of Clark University: — 

Desiring to make an expression of our sympathy for Mrs. 
Clark in her deep bereavement, because of the death of her 
husband, and also to pay our tribute to the memory of the man 
who has done so much for our own and the interests of higher 
education, we beg to communicate to you the accompanying 
resolution of the student body and to ask you to transmit to 
Mrs. Clark our expression in whatever manner and form you 
may think best. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Frank B. Williams, 1 

Norman Triplett, 

I- Loi)i))iittee. 
P. W. Search, 

J. E. Ives, 



IResoIutions of tbe Stu^ent0 of dlarl^ lllnivcrsiti? on tbe 
^eatb of its fOlm^er, fIDr. 3onas (5. Claris. 



Recognizing the high worth of the opportunit}- conferred on 
us by the philanthropic enterprise of our university's founder, 
we, the students of Clark University, desire to express to Mrs. 
Clark our profound sympathy in this hour of suffering caused by 
the death of her husband and our friend and benefactor, Mr, 
Jonas G. Clark. 

We also desire to express our deep appreciation of the great 
value of this university, planned, founded, equipped, and con- 
ducted for the higher training of men. To us the university 
has been full of inspiration and enriching opportunity. It meets 
our needs in our desire for original investigation, personal asso- 
ciation, and higher traininy-. 

We take pride in the high position accorded Clark Univer- 
sity in the educational circles of the world, and desire to pay our 
tribute to the memory and worth of the noble man who has made 
these things possible. 

Clark University, 

May 24th, 1900. 



Morcester IRational Banft. 

Special Oseetim, *as 25tb, 1900. 



The following action in regard to the death of Mr. Jonas G. 
Clark, proposed by the President, Mr. Salisbury, was unanimously 
adopted : 

The Directors of the Worcester National Bank are called upon 
to meet the loss of one of their number whose large experience 
and cautious judgment made him useful in a high degree to the 
policy and standing of the bank. Jonas G. Clark became a 
director in 1885, in the maturity of his life, accustomed to large 
operations and with a mind quickened by large acquaintance with 
the men who have shaped the conduct of events. The position 
seemed congenial to his tastes, and certainly his associates were 
much aided by his participation in their action. 

The Directors remember the constant urbanity and courtesy 
of Mr. Clark in all his intercourse with them and with others 
with whom he was thrown. 

The great purpose of his life, the higher education and ele- 
vation of man, determined upon at the height of his prosperity 
and usefulness, led him to seek an opportunity for putting his 
plan into operation. 



By travel and observation Mr. Clark at length decided upon 
a course of action and devoted his whole thought to this object. 
The result has been the creation of a university system en- 
tirely unique in this country and having little resemblance to any 
department of institutions of learning of the old world. 

The development of this life-work of Mr. Clark took place 
during his connection with the Worcester National Bank, and it 
was a source of gratification that one of our number was able 
to do so much for his time. 

The Directors desire to record their sense of personal loss 
in the companionship of a man of so wide an experience of life, 
and the hope that the grief of Mrs. Clark may be somewhat 
assuaged with the reflection that Providence has permitted this 
happy union to remain unbroken for so many years. 



public Xibrar^ Committee. 

IbubbarOdton, /IRass. 



Whereas, The Wise Ruler of the universe has taken from 
us our kind friend and benefactor, Jonas Gihnan Clark, who 
erected and presented the beautiful building which is now the 
home of our public library, and 

Whereas, His continued interest in the library has from time 
to time prompted him to confer large gifts of money and books ; 
therefore be it 

Resolved, That we hereby acknowledge with deep gratitude 
his numerous bequests with the assurance that his memory will 
be held by us in highest esteem, with the wish that the build- 
ing may stand as an enduring monument to his kind generosity; 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the 
widow of the late Mr. Clark, and also spread upon the records 
of our Association. 

J. Harry Allen, 
Wm. H. Wheeler, 
Charles Grimes, 
Lois E. Warren, 
Granville Marean, 
Allen S. Woodward. 



Library 
Committee. 



HuBBARDSTON, Mass., May 25th, 1900. 



Xlvibutee. 



Jfrom tbc TKIlorcester Sp\>, 

/IftaB 24tb, 1900. 



Jonas Gilman Clark, whose death occurred at his home on 
Elm Street last evening, will always be remembered as the founder 
of the great university that bears his name. His death will be 
as sincerely mourned in every educational centre of the world as 
in the community where he has passed the best and brightest 
years of his life — best in that here he conceived and executed 
the great purpose of his life, and brightest in that he lived to 
see its blessings spread around the world. 

Mr. Clark was a rare type of New England manhood, self- 
made, the master of circumstances, and the sole architect of his 
own fortunes. From his boyhood in Hubbardston through his 
youth and young manhood, while acquiring and working at his 
trade of carriage builder, his main characteristic was thorough- 
ness and a determination to excel in whatever he attempted. 

In later years he was fond of mildly boasting that he could 
make any part of a carriage as well or better than any workman 
he could find. While not a vain man, he believed in himself, 
in his own purpose, his convictions and his methods. With a 
masterly grasp of detail, he united a capacity to think broadly 



alono- all lines in which he was interested, and was an apt learner 
from the failures and successes of others. 

Of simple habits, untiring energy, and devotion to business, 
private and public, and commanding the respect and confidence 
of all with whom he came in contact by his firm honesty and 
uprightness, it was inevitable that he should amass a fortune in 
comparatively a few years. 

Childless and with a keen responsibility attaching to his 
wealth, it was natural that his thoughts should turn back to 
Worcester County, his early home. It is well known by those 
who were near to him that he first planned to build a college 
in Worcester where Worcester County boys could acquire a col- 
lege training at less cost and with fewer temptations to the sin 
of extravagance than in the older and larger institutions of 
New England. 

His later travel and study of foreign institutions, especially 
universities of Germany, coupled with the strenuous advice of 
his friends, Andrew D. White of Columbia, President Eliot of 
Harvard, G. Stanley Hall, and other leaders of thought and 
education, persuaded him to change his plans and to laj' the 
foundation of a university that should make a post-graduate 
course in higher education and original research possible without 
the expense of time and money in foreign lands. 

Without dwelling upon the great achievements already accom- 
plished by the university which bears his name and to which 
five of the foremost representatives of the leading universities 
of Europe gave their remarkable testimony by their presence at 
the decennial celebration, last July, it is a matter for rejoicing 



that, although not able to take part in the decennial exercises, 
he watched and noted from his sick-room in Princeton, with 
growing pleasure and satisfaction, the local recognition of the 
occasion and the grateful testimony of the press and the foreign 
visitors, of the record made and the great future promise of the 
institution he alone had founded and endowed so munificently. 

It was his lot to bear with wonderful fortitude great physical 
suffering during the last months of his life. 

There is neither time nor place here for eulogy. The fitting 
words to close his earthly career yet remain to be spoken by 
those who shared his thoughts and joined with him in the 
realization of the purpose to which he so generously and nobly 
consecrated not only his wealth, but almost his every thought 
for more than a decade, since the first announcement was made 
that Jonas G. Clark had given to Worcester a university des- 
tined to rival in its own peculiar field the best the world has 
ever known. 



Jfrom tbc Morcester jevenino (Basette, 

/Iftas 24tb, 1900. 



Mr. Clark's achievements are truly remarkable. The accumu- 
lation of a great fortune was not of itself so wonderful, for many 
Americans of his generation were able to rise to equal heights 
from fully as small beginnings. But the ideals conceived by 
the man were so lofty as to astound one who realized their origin. 

He conceived of a university without a parallel in this coun- 
try, whose scope and aims were to be wider and higher than it 
would seem possible for an unprofessional man to comprehend. 

He gave his heart and soul, body and mind to the fulfilment 
of that ideal. He travelled and studied until he had so thorough 
a grasp of the subject that he astonished the eminent educators 
with whom he consulted. He realized every detail of the needs 
of such an institution as he desired to establish. 

This thoroughness and energy resulted in the founding of a 
university which, in the short space of ten years, and hampered 
by many trying conditions, has taken a position at the forefront 
of the world's great educational establishments. Its scope is 
confined to the most recondite study and work. Only a limited 
number will ever be drawn by its attractions. But such work as 



it makes possible is essential to the possession of the greatest 
amount of knowledge, and the presence in America of such an 
institution is a constant stimulus to the best intellectual endeavor. 

With greater resources the importance of this work can be 
greatly increased, and with the passing of the years Clark Uni- 
versity should move from among the best to the very head of 
its class. 

That is what Jonas G. Clark accomplished; a result not sur- 
passed by any American. Worcester was honored to a great 
degree in being chosen as the place in which to carry out such 
a noble plan. The people of Worcester should not forget this, 
and should always hold in high reverence the memory of the 
man who did so much and who suffered so much. 



jfroni tbc Morcester ©ailv' ^eleoram, 

^afi 24tb, 1900. 



Worcester owes its greatest educational institution to Jonas 
G. Clarl<. 

Clark University is his creation. Mr. Clark had been look- 
ing about for a long time to find the best use for his great 
wealth. The university appealed to him as a great source of 
good to humanity. 

So he studied universities. He went to all modern universi- 
ties and examined into their methods. He went to the ancient 
seats of learning, and studied their methods and scope so far as 
he could, and their libraries. He took deep interest in the 
books of the ancients and of the scholars of the middle ages. 
Many such are in his house on Elm Street or stored in safe- 
deposit vaults. He hit upon the highest possible courses of 
study and research as the most valuable, and determined the 
university he was to create should be on the highest plane. It 
was the result of his visits to Thebes, Heliopolis, Memphis, 
Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Athens. 

Ten years had passed by last year, and the results of the 
$2,000,000 invested by Mr. Clark in the University were sub- 



stantial dividends in the form of work accomplished for the 
advancement of science and the sending out into the world of 
bright and trained men to continue the good work of higher 
education. The presence of distinguished savants from European 
universities marked the decennial celebration. IVIr. Clark could 
not himself be present, for his age had already brought with it 
failing health, and he was physically unable to attend the exer- 
cises and see with. his own eyes and hear with his own ears 
what had been accomplished and in what appreciation his good 
work is held b)' the men who know best the real fruits of such 
an educational tree. 



jfrom tbe Morcester jEveniUG ipost, 

/IftaB 24tb, 1900. 



Jonas G. Clark, who died at his palatial residence on Elm 
Street last evening, aged 85 years, was a genuine type of the 
American self-made man. 

By untiring energy and shrewd business capacity he accumu- 
lated a large fortune. Part of this he donated for public pur- 
poses prior to his death. 

To his native Hubbardston he gave a town hall and public 
library, which he has endowed. It is to Worcester, however, 
that Mr. Clark gave his biggest gift. To this city he has been 
a generous benefactor. Clark University will perpetuate his 
name, and future generations of Worcester people will remember 
him gratefully as the founder of an educational institution that 
is known the world over. 

Mr. Clark possessed the strong New England character, which, 
combined with his native thrift and shrewdness, gave him a 
breadth of view and ability to achieve and execute, and made him 
a power and a leader among men. Of great modesty, he was 
the urbane Christian gentlemen and scholar. His love of learn- 
ing was a marked characteristic of his nature, and free from all 



cant, hypocrisy, or religious prejudice, he believed in the good 
of mankind. His wish was to elevate and uplift man, and to 
disseminate human knowledge and make his fellow men happier 
and wiser, as his wealth directed. 

To his broad philanthropy and generosity of heart, Clark 
University is a monument which will make his name revered for 
all time, and held in affectionate esteem by the city of Worcester, 
which has so richly profited by his benefactions. 



jfvoni 2)r. ^5. Stanlev^ Iball, 

pieelScnt of Clarh lIliilveisitB. 



The following interview with Dr. Hall appeared in the 
Worcester Spy on the morning following Mr. Clark's death :- — 

I have been fearing and anticipating this sad event for several 
weeks, and it is a source of gi-eat personal regret. Our associa- 
tions have been extremely close. Until his illness caused him 
gradually to withdraw, his interest in the University was keen 
and earnest. 

For more than six months before and during the building 
of the University I lived at his house. I never saw a man 
whose whole soul went deeper into an enterprise, or one who 
showed more self-sacrifice and devotion. He had incubated in 
private this university scheme, and" it was years before he made 
it known. He planned to make it the chief work of his declining 
years. His great mastery of practical details was both an educa- 
tion and an inspiration to me. For years hardly a day passed 
that he did not visit the institution intent upon some improve- 
ment in building, grounds, plans, or work. 

He selected with rare sagacity his board of trustees, and 
these gentlemen have ably and devotedly stood by the University 
in all its vicissitudes. They have had, perhaps it is not improper 
for me to say, as their leading object the carrying out of his 
purposes. 



In general, Mr. Clark showed singular sagacity in leaving to 
expert knowledge the educational policy of the University. 

Highly as he was respected in Worcester, I have always had 
the feeling that his best and highest qualities were not as well 
known as they should be. I am sure that widely as his name 
and University are known, both will grow and brighten through 
the coming years. 

The University, its plan, material equipment, personnel, pros- 
pects, success, lay close to his heart and were carried on his 
mind incessantly ; almost literally I might say day and night. 

He was exquisitely sensitive to every breath of critical praise 
or blame from far and near. He read or heard read probably every 
word that the Worcester press has printed about the University. 

Even the voluminous reports of the Summer School lectures 
had for him the liveliest interest. He strove, too, to know 
somethino- of the contents of the bio- book that we issued in 
connection with the decennial celebration last summer. 

I have heard men of other States who were personally ac- 
quainted with Mr. Clark speak of him in the highest terms when 
discussing his business, charitable, and social relations. I never 
heard a breath directly or indirectly that did not imply the 
highest business honor and integrity. 

It was natural that a son of Worcester County, after making 
his fortune, should make this city the home of his last years, and 
that he should select it as the location of his great university. 

I am certain that the grief of the city he sought to honor 
will not only be general and deep and worthily expressed, but 
that his name will be cherished here with lasting honor. 



X178 




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